Let’s get personal: Designing your professional logo

Creating a personal logo is one of the most important things you can do as a designer. It’s the first step towards building your professional brand and should be used to communicate a lot about what type of designer you are.

Identify your brand

Consider how you want to be perceived as a designer. What’s your style? What kind of personality does your work have? Does your work fulfill a specific niche? These types of questions will help determine the look and feel of your logo. If you specialize in a specific type of design, this is your chance to showcase it.

It’s an important consideration, since the style of your logo will inevitably decide the direction of branding for the rest of your promotional materials. That means your portfolio, website, resume, business cards, social media outlets – even your user icon on 99designs. This is your chance to share with the world (and potential clients) exactly what type of work you excel at.

While it’s great to turn to others’ logos for inspiration, it’s vital that your individual personality shines through. You want to draw the client’s attention to you, your work and your style. Take a look at our Brand Yourself community contest for some great examples.

Be unique

You’ll see a lot of designers using their initials as their personal logo. There’s nothing wrong with that, but any opportunity to show your creative personality should be taken advantage of. Try using a character, create your own shape, or applying symbolism. Think outside the box for innovative ways to showcase your brand.

Take a look at Ricky Asamanis’ personal logo above. As he explains, “Asamanis is taken from the words “asam” which means sour and “manis” which means sweet. I’m always making every logo design turn from sour into sweet.”

He also chose to use an orange – something he believes is fresh, sweet and a little sour. The form of a ninja was chosen because he loves creating logos with “hidden messages”.

Start doodling

Brainstorming can often be the toughest part of creating a logo – especially when there’s the added pressure of designing something that’s so personal.

Often times, the best way to begin work on your personal logo is by doodling. It’s a quick and easy way to flesh your ideas out and onto paper. The more you doodle, the more you’ll know what you want your logo to look like.

Take a look at ROde’s personal logo. Here was his thought process:

After you’ve found something you like in your doodle, you can try to re-imagine it in shape or form. ROde chose to form the R into a stork, because “as a stork delivers babies, I will try to deliver great design.” An awesome message.

Be flexible

How does your logo look on different backgrounds? Can it be scaled down and still be legible? Can it be printed in black and white and still have an impact?

When creating a logo, it’s important to consider the different places that your logo may appear. The more adaptable your design is, the less roadblocks you’ll face later on when you begin working on the rest of your branded materials. Remember, sometimes the best logo ideas are the simplest ones.

Ready to get a professional personal logo?

A logo design contest can get you dozens of ideas from professsional designers around the world.